LWC Student Joins '15 To Finish' Statewide Campaign

Posted on Thursday, January 09, 2014 [4:34 PM]

LWC student Emily Ramage speaks Wednesday at the launch of
Kentucky's
"15 to Finish" campaign in the Capitol Rotunda as Council on
Postsecondary Education
President Robert L. King, left, and Lt. Governor Jerry Abramson
look on.

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Lindsey Wilson College
student Emily Ramage of Columbia took part Wednesday in a statewide
campaign urging college students to finish college in a minimal
amount of time.

Dubbed "15 to Finish," the campaign urges full-time
college students to complete a full 15-credit schedule each
semester, or 30 credits a year, the standard course load that will
allow students to graduate on-time in four years.

The "15 to Finish" campaign will promote the benefits of
completing a full course schedule, which include saving time and
money, and getting into the workforce sooner. The launch took place
in the Capitol Rotunda and included remarks by Lt. Governor Jerry Abramson and higher
education officials. Ramage was one of two current college students
who are on track to graduate in four years who made remarks.

Ramage said she made the choice to take a minimum of 15
hours each semester during her college career because even though
she loves college life at LWC, "I viewed staying in more than four
years as a speed bump to my future."

Ramage said she will finish on time despite having to
help her mother through chemotherapy and being active in a number
of campus activities during her college career.

"Kentucky's nonprofit, private colleges and universities
have always emphasized timely graduation so that students can move
on to the workforce or to graduate school or whatever's next," said
AIKCU President Gary S. Cox. "We're happy to join CPE and our
friends at KCTCS and the public universities to spread this message
to students and families throughout the commonwealth."

While the private colleges in Kentucky have an aggregate
six-year graduation rate that is roughly comparable to the
public universities, students are currently more likely to graduate
in four years from a private college. Three out of four first-time,
full-time students who graduate from a Kentucky private college do
so in four years.

The "15 to Finish" campaign is a key strategy of a larger
student success effort to increase high-quality degrees and
credentials, increase graduation rates and close achievement gaps
in Kentucky.

The initiative is part of a nationwide effort promoted by
Complete
College America, an organization whose mission is to increase
the number of Americans with career certificates or college
degrees.